Real pages from the kit files. Example details are illustrative.
Discipline and Termination Decision Kit
Make, document, and deliver a discipline or termination decision you can defend, without guessing through the hardest call you make. A guided system: screen the decision for legal risk, document the business reason, run the meeting with word-for-word scripts, and close out final pay and offboarding cleanly.
One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.
Built by expert HR practitioners and leaders
- A seven-point Red Flag Screen: the one page to run before you act, checking for a recent complaint, leave or accommodation, injury or safety, a wage-and-hour issue, inconsistent treatment, thin facts, and contract or protected-status concerns, with what to do if any is a yes
- A go or no-go Decision Flow and Readiness Checklist: seven steps that turn frustration into specific, dated facts, plus a checklist that tells you when the decision is ready and when it is not
- A fill-in Decision Memo: documents the business reason, the written support, the consistency check, and the policy involved, so the decision is on paper before the meeting
- Word-for-word meeting scripts: a separation script and a suspend-pending-investigation script, with the exact phrasing for each moment and a list of phrases to avoid in any meeting
- A final-pay and offboarding handoff, plus an Excel tracker: the payroll, benefits, access, and property steps to close out, in a tracker that flags overdue items and shows percent complete
- Six worked examples and high-risk guidance: filled-in screens, memos, and scripts for attendance, misconduct, PIP, safety, and layoff cases, and a section on the situations to stop and get counsel on first
The kit structures the decision and keeps the record. It does not make the decision for you and does not replace counsel review on the high-risk cases.
A guided system, templates, and general business information for planning, not legal or tax advice. Employment rules vary by state and situation, final-pay timing and at-will status among them, so confirm the specifics with employment counsel and your payroll provider, and stop and get qualified help on the high-risk situations the kit flags.
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Last reviewed June 2026
Buying for clients or multiple entities? The White-Label tier is in the license.
Four pieces that turn the hardest call into a guided, documented decision
A guided system, not a pile of templates. The decision document walks you from the first red flag to the final-pay handoff, the tracker keeps the close-out on schedule, and a one-page Start Here tells you exactly where to begin. Built to be used together.
Start Here
A one-page map: find your situation in the table, and it points you to the part of the kit you need. Read it first, and run the Red Flag Screen before any decision.
The Decision Kit (19 pages)
The full guided system in nine sections: the Decision Flow, the seven-point Red Flag Screen, the Readiness Checklist, the Decision Memo, the separation and suspend-pending-investigation scripts with the phrases to avoid, the Final-Pay and Offboarding Handoff, the Scenario Playbooks, six worked examples, and a High-Risk Situations section. Print-ready PDF and an editable Word version you adapt.
Termination and Offboarding Tracker
Three tabs: a Start Here, the offboarding tracker, and a pre-filled worked example. List the payroll, benefits, access, and property steps with owners and due dates, and the tracker shows percent complete, counts what is done and in progress, and flags anything overdue before the last day.
The Red Flag Check
A five-minute quick reference of the six red flags behind the most common, most expensive mistakes, with what to do instead when one comes up. A standalone version of the in-kit screen to keep at hand.
The method in the order a decision runs
Screen first, then build the facts, run the meeting, and close it out. The kit structures each step; you make the call, and counsel covers the close ones.
Screen before you act
Run the seven-point Red Flag Screen first, every time. A single yes does not stop you forever; it means pause, document carefully, and get HR or legal input before the decision is final. A clean screen means you can move to the Readiness Checklist.
Build the facts and the memo
Work the Decision Flow to turn frustration into specific, dated facts, then complete the Readiness Checklist and the Decision Memo so the business reason, the written support, the consistency check, and the policy involved are all on paper before anyone is in a room.
Run the meeting
Use the Separation Meeting Script, or the Suspend Pending Investigation script if the facts are not in yet. Keep it brief, factual, and final, with a witness present and the logistics ready, and stay off the phrases that turn a hard conversation into a new problem.
Close it out cleanly
Use the Final-Pay and Offboarding Handoff and the tracker to confirm final-pay timing, benefits or continuation, access removal, and property return, and to flag anything overdue before the last day. The record you leave is the decision’s defense.
A defensible decision is built, not improvised
The hardest calls go wrong in predictable ways: a decision made in frustration, the same week as a complaint, without checking documentation, timing, consistency, payroll, or policy. The fix is not more nerve, it is a process. This kit gives you the screen, the record, and the words, so the decision you make is one you could calmly explain to a neutral person using facts, and so you know which situations to stop and hand to counsel.
The kit tells you when to call a lawyer
Discipline and termination look routine until a case sits near a line. The checkpoints below are marked in the kit, so you slow down before a decision creates exposure, and you spend legal dollars on the cases that need them rather than every one. Advice before the decision is far cheaper than defending it after.
Who does what
A defensible decision splits the work between you, the kit, and your counsel. Here is the split, stated plainly.
- The kit structures the decision; you make it. The flow, the screen, and the memo organize the facts and surface the risks. The judgment call, and the decision, are yours.
- The kit screens for legal risk; counsel reads a red flag. A yes on the screen is a signal to pause and get input, not a verdict. The kit tells you when a case needs a lawyer; counsel tells you what to do about it.
- The kit words the meeting; you deliver it. The scripts carry the exact phrasing and the phrases to avoid. Saying them calmly, with a witness, in a private room, is the part only you can do.
- The kit lists the close-out; payroll confirms the rules. The handoff and the tracker name the final-pay, benefits, access, and property steps. The exact final-pay timing and deductions are confirmed with your payroll provider against your state.
- The kit keeps the record, and the record is the point. A completed screen, a dated memo, and a tracked close-out are the difference between a decision you can defend and one you cannot.
Who it is built for
Who this kit fits, and where to go if that is not you.
Built for
- A manager or business owner facing a discipline or termination decision who wants to make it defensible, document it properly, and run the meeting without improvising the hardest words.
- An HR team of one, or a small HR function, that needs a consistent process across managers, with the screen, the memo, the scripts, and the close-out in one place.
- An operations or people leader who has to be sure a decision was screened for legal risk and documented before it is final, and wants the paper trail to show for it.
If you are looking for
- A layoff or reduction in force across several roles and locations, not a single decision. The RIF and Restructure Planning Kit runs that end to end.
- The ongoing employee-relations toolkit for warnings, investigations, and PIPs across the team, not one termination. The Employee Relations Kit covers it.
- The review and performance-improvement process that comes before a termination. The Performance Review and Calibration Toolkit builds it.
Before you buy
What format are the files and can I edit them?
Is this legal advice?
How is this different from a free template or checklist?
What if my situation is high-risk, like a complaint, a leave, a layoff, a union, or a multi-state employee?
What is the refund policy?
What happens after I buy?
Can I expense this purchase to my business?
Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant or tax professional. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.
The 6 red flags to check before you discipline or fire someone
A five-minute screen that catches the most common and most expensive people-decision mistakes before they happen. Free PDF, sent to your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.
Make the hardest call a defensible one
Screen it, document it, run the meeting, and close it out, in files you keep, with the kit telling you when to bring in counsel.
A guided system and templates for planning, not legal or tax advice. Last reviewed June 2026.